Process of reinforcing wood heels



May 10, 1955 J. F. FITZSIMMONS PROCESS OF REINFORCING woon HEELS FiledJune 8. 1954 wn r1 1 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent PROCESS OF REINFORCING WOOD HEELS James F.Fitzsimmons, Winchester, Mass.

Application June 8, 1954, Serial No. 435,128

1 Claim. (Cl. 12-147) This invention comprises a new and improvedprocess of reinforcing high wood heels for womens shoes and at the sametime fitting the heels for the reception of replaceable top lifts.

I am the owner of United States Letters Patent No. 1,947,840, Feb. 20,1934, and No. 1,995,058, March 19, 1935, and in one aspect the presentinvention is an improvement on the process of those patents.

The current styles in womens shoes demand extremely high wood heels withextremely small top lifts, and these requirements result in heels ofvery delicate structure. The small area of the top lift reduces its lifein wear to barely ten days, and if the top lift is not replaced in goodseason the heel cover is damaged and the shoe ruined beyond repair. Theprocess of the present invention provides at one and the same time anefiicient reinforcement for the heel structure and a fitting to receivea replaceable top lift.

Going more into detail, my novel process is characterized by the step offirst drilling a circular hole into the body of the heel from the toplift end, and then forcing into the hole a stiff metal tube oftriangular cross-section exceeding in its transverse dimensions thediameter of the hole while rigidly supporting the tube upon an internalmandrel, thus simultaneously causing the corners of the tube to broachpassages for themselves in the wall of the hole and then withdrawing themandrel leaving the tube in situ. In this way the tube is firmlyanchored in the heel and provides a metallic reinforcement thereforwhich is effective even though the heel may be cracked transversely.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment ofthe heel structure selected for purposes of illustration and shown inthe accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a view in elevation, partly in section, showing the drilledhole,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the heel,

Fig. 3 is a view, partly in section, showing the tube as being inserted,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the complete heel,

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the top lift, and

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are detail views on a larger scale of the top lift.

The heel 10 shown in Fig. 1 is typical of those to which the inventionrelates and may be turned from maple. It has an overall height of 2" ormore, and includes an elongated shank portion of small cross-section anddelicate structure. The heel seat surface 11 of the heel is given aconcave curvature to fit the heel seat of the sole of the shoe. Thefirst step of the process consists in any suitable composition.

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drilling a circular hole 13 from the top lift or tread face 12 of theheel, and as herein shown the hole 13 extends toward the heel seat face11 for about two-thirds of the length of the heel.

The reinforcing element comprises a metallic tube 14 which is triangularin cross-section and has sharp vertex edges. It is somewhat greater inits cross-sectional dimensions than the diameter of the hole 13 and canbe inserted into the hole only by exerting suflicient pressure thereonto cause its sharp vertex corners to broach welldefined passages in thewalls of the hole 13. To effect this operation the tube 14 is telescopedupon a solid steel mandrel 15 which may project from the head 16 of anarbor press. The tube 14, reinforced and supported throughout its fulllength upon the mandrel 15, is forced into the hole 13, and having beenfully inserted, the mandrel is withdrawn leaving the tube 14 in place.In Fig. 3 the mandrel 15 is shown as slightly retracted after theinserting step.

It will be apparent that in addition to imparting a high degree oftensile strength to the heel and thus preventing it from bending andbreaking in wear, the tube on account of its triangular cross-sectionpositively holds all portions of the shank of the heel against twistingand so eliminates a second source of weakness.

The tube may be used as a receptacle or socket for replaceable top liftsof the type shown in Figs. 5-8. As therein shown a tubular shank 17 isprovided which is also triangular in cross-section and of suchdimensions as to telescope and fit snugly within the tube 14. The shankis provided at its outer end with prongs 19 that are embedded in the toplift 18, the latter being of leather or One face of the shank 17 isslotted and a loop 20 of spring wire is fastened within the shank inposition to protrude through its face and make firm frictionalengagement with the inner wall of the tube 14 when the shank 17 isforced into it. A convenient means of fastening the spring loop is byforming a small transverse eye or loop 21 in its inner end that may beforced into place and held by the triangular configuration of the shank.

The process herein disclosed supersedes attempts to form a triangularhole in the heel by running a drill at high speed inside a triangularchisel. That procedure was not satisfactory because it is slow andbecause such chisels are expensive and very fragile. Drilling of a roundhole without the chisel and subsequent insertion of the sharp corneredtube is therefore a distinct forward step in economy and efficiency.

Having thus disclosed the process of my invention and described indetail an illustrative manner of practicing it, I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent:

A process of reinforcing wood heels of small crosssection whichcomprises the steps of drilling a circular hole from the top lift end ofthe heel in the longitudinal axis of the heel and extending at leasthalf way toward its heel seat face, forcing into the hole a stiff metaltube of triangular cross-section, the tube exceeding in its transversedimensions the diameter of the hole as drilled, meanwhile rigidlysupporting the tube by an internal mandrel and simultaneously causingthe corners of the tube to broach passages for themselves in the wallsof the hole thus anchoring the tube firmly in the heel, and thenwithdrawing the mandrel leaving the tube in situ for the reception of atop lift shank.

No references cited.

